Spray nozzle



Jan. 19, 1943. O FRENCH 2,308,504

SPRAY NOZZLE Filed Feb. 5, 1940 [2 Fig.2

INVENTOR Patented Jan. 19, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE SPRAYNOZZLE Louis 0. French, Milwaukee, Wis. Application February 3, 1940,Serial/No. 317,046

5 Claims.

that of my prior U. S. Patent No. 2,052,560, dated September 1, 1936. Inthe aforementioned patent I have shown a poppet type valve having a stemthat is guided in a guide passage in the pressure chamber or piping, andthe diameter of this guide passage is limited by the practical limit forthe diameter of the valve stem, and as a consequence the pressuresnecessary to close the valve are relatively high since pressures used indevices of this kind are relatively high. Thus the pressures exerted bythe spring closing plate in the above named patent might in someinstances ex ceed the elastic limit of said plate so that while thevalve might function properly at first, it might later not closeproperly. I find the above disadvantage of the prior construction may beFigs. 4, 5, and 6 are detailed plan views of nozzle plates forming partsof spray nozzles embodying the invention, parts being broken away.

Referring to the drawing, th numeral l0 designates acasing provided witha fuel supply passage H which may receive fuel under pressure from anysuitable pump or which may be a passage forming part of" a pump barrel,there being a valve seat [2 at the outer end of the passage l I and thecasing usually being threaded for mounting in the wall of the combustionchamber of an I internal combustion engine or in a passage communicatingwith this chamber and being threaded at M for receiving a nozzleclamping flanged sleeve nut l5.

As shown in Figs. 1 to 2, inclusive, a ball valve l6, preferably ahardened chrome steel ball bearing, is adapted to normally seat on theseat l2 to overcome if the check valve, is guided from the dischargeside of its seat, for then the size of the passage to'the valve seat isnot limited by the size of the valve but may be made as small as desiredso that a relatively light closing spring will seat the valve againstrelatively high pressures. If,

however, the check valve is guided from the discharge side of its seatunless the size or volume of the passage or passages between the valveseat and the nozzle are relatively small, the drop in pressure throughthese passages will seriously interfere with the efilcient spraying andatomizing of the fuel or will necessitate a very great increase ofpressure to compensate for this pressure drop.

After considerable experimenting I find that the above conditions of avalve that is guided at the discharge side of its seat and provides aminimum volume between the seat and the nozzle is best satisfied by asmall ball valve which also seats in the nozzle plate at all times andin its preferred form cooperates therewith to deter- P mine the spraycharacteristics.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a spray nozzle embodying theinvention, parts being broken away, the section being taken along theline l-l of Fig.5;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detailed sectional view similar to Fig. 1 showingcertain modifications;

Fig. 3 is a. sectional view similar to Fig. 1 showing certainmodifications;

close or tend to close the same except when fuel is desired.

In each instance the valve I6 is normally held to its seat by a valveclosing means comprising one or more resilient metal plates I1 and I8having centrally disposed openings I9 and 20 therein respectively.

A guide means for the valve I6 is shown in the form of a centrallyapertured flat metal plate 2| interposed between the casing I0 and theinner plate IT. The diameter of the hole 22 in the plate 2| ispreferably such as to provide but a small clearance between the sides ofsaid hole and the ball. The guide means may be integral with the casingif desired, but by having this means separate it is easier to get at andinspect the seat /l2 and grind the valve if necessary.

' clamped against the end of said passag and the valve seated on itsseat, the closing means will be placed under a predetermined initialtension. Each valve closing plate I! is formed from fiat spring steel,berillyium copper, alloy steel, or other suitable metallic materialprovided with the central opening IS in which the ball valve I 6 seatsat all times. The form of the spray is either wholly or partlydetermined by the passages formed between the ball and the plate byproviding notches or grooves 23 in the wall of the central opening ofsaid closing plate. These notches may be variously positioned as shownin Figs. 4, 5, and 6. In Fig. 4 there are two diametrically disposedgrooves whose eflect is to viding a conical spray, and in Fig. 6 therare to overcome the of said opening l9 so that it may two substantiallytangentially disposed grooves to provide a whirling spray. The notchesor grooves 23 may extend to different depths in the plate i1 dependingupon the size of the hole ll, said notches preferably tapering as shownfrom the top of the plate I! to the bottom of the notch which is justbelow where the ball seats on the plate. e

with the above construction using a single plate I! when the pressure oithe fuel is suflicient initial tension placed on the plate H, the ballI6 is moved from its seat, and the fuel passes from the passage I Ithrough the clearance space of the hole' I! and the passages formed bythe grooves 23.

,Where the pressures are such that a single plate is not sufiiclent toproperly seat the valve,

then one or more plates l8 may be associated with the first plate l1.Such a plate I8 is provided with a central opening 20 which, while itmay be larger than or equal to the diameter or the hole I9, ispreferably less than the diameter assist in determining the spraycharacteristics and particularly provide for a concentration or thespray and especially in the case of the plate provided with thetangentially disposed notches since the whirling form of spray producedthereby will act to form a conical spray when issuing from the opening20.

' By way of example, I may point out that good results may be obtainedwith spring closing plates of ten-thousandths to fifteen-thousandths oi.an inch in thickness for ball bearings oi one-eighths tothree-thirty-seconds of an inch and plates 01 eight-thousandths toten-thousandths of an inch in thickness for ball-bearings ofone-sixteenth oi! an inch in diameter and that the openings in the innerplates or the plate next to the ball may be from three-hundredths toflve-hundredths an inch in diameter for the smaller balls and somewhatlarger if desired for the larger balls. If with the above examplesthenozzle plate is properly tensioned when the pressure builds up enoughto unseat the valve, 3, fine cloud-like spray will issue from the nozzlewith a whistling sound. Nozzles made in accordance with this inventionhave good atomizing characteristics and with the ,proper design ofpassages will give a spray of exceptionally wide angle so that they maybe used effectively in shallow forms of com bustion chambers such asoccurs between the piston and head of the usual Diesel or compressionignition type engine that does not have an specially formed combustionspace.

If, however, it is desired to get greater distribution than can beobtained with the fine jets produced by the passages between the valveand the spring plate, some of the advantages of this invention may beobtained by the construction shown in Fig. 3 which differs from theother forms in that the nozzle plate 2| which is generally similar tothe plate l1 and has a central opening 25 therein has a flanged nozzletip 26 mounted in this opening provided with a plurality of radiallyspaced more or less inclined spray openings 21 communicating with thepassage 28 which communicates with the bore 29 in the guide means 30 bya passage or passages 3| in the flange of said member 26 so that theball valve 32 which seats against the seat 33 of the supply passage 34moves with the plate 24 under the action of fluid under pressure in thepassage asoasos I4, and while the ball does not determine the characteror the spray, it does provide a mini- The drawing herein is on an enl edand only an approximate scale, and the clearances and size ofpassages'have been greatly exaggerated, and no attempt has been made toshow the slight flexing oi the nozzle memberin its tensioned condition.

I desire it to be understood that this invention is not to be limited toany particular form or arrangement or parts except in so far as suchlimitations are included in the claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a spray nozzle, the combination with a discharge e having a metalvalve seat, an outwardly opening ball valve engaging said seat,

a resilient normally flat thin metal nozzle member apertured to receivea portion or said valve and exert pressure thereon to normally hold saidvalve against its seat, means for fixedly securing the outer edges ofsaid nozzle member in a position causing initial flexing of said nozzlemember into tensionedengagement with said valve, said nozzle memberhaving a groove communicating with the opening in which said valve isreceived to form a spray passage between said member and valve, thelength of the passages connecting said valve seat and the discharge endor said nozzle member being not longer thanthe diameter or said valve.

2. In a spray nozzle, the combination with a discharge passage having ametal valve seat, an outwardly opening ball valve engaging said seat, aresilient relatively thin metal nozzle member having an opening on whichsaid ball seats and tensioned to urge said valve to closed positionthere being open spray grooves formed in the wall of said openingbetween said ball and said member.

3. In a'spray nozzle, the combination with a discharge passage having ametal valve seat, an outwardly opening ball valve engaging said seat, aresilient relatively thin metal nozzle member having an opening in whichsaid ball seats with tapered grooves in said member extending into saidopening between said member and said ball, said grooves diminishing inarea toward the discharge end of said opening.

4. In a spray nomle, the combination with a discharge passage having ametal valve seat. an outwardly opening ball valve engaging said seat,guide means for said valve extending outwardly beyond said seat, aresilient relatively thin metal nozzle member clamped at its outer edgesto said guide means and having an opening whose sides engage said ballto normally hold said valve against its seat, there being spray groovesformed in the wall of said opening between said member,

exams-Iona or CORRECTION. Patent 110.2,3013501 H January 19, 191 5.LOUIS o. mama.

of the above vnumbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 1,first column, line 14.6, after the word and period a cte istics." insertthe following paragraph --The invention further consists in the severalfeatures hereinafter set forth andmor'e particularly defined y claims atthe conq lusion hereof.

'Petent shouid be read with this correction therein that the same mayconform to the record of the case in the Patent Signed and sealed this25rd day of February, A. D. 1915.

Henry Van Arsdale, (Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents.

